Springdale boy burned by homemade rocket

Published 7:56 pm, Wednesday, July 31, 2013

STAMFORD -- A 10-year-old boy was kept overnight at Stamford Hospital for burns suffered when a homemade rocket he and his father were launching blew up in his hand, police said.

Police were called to the hospital at about 8 p.m. Tuesday night after the boy, who had second-degree burns on his torso, legs and hands, showed up at the emergency room with his father.

The father, 52, explained that he and his son had loaded up a plastic PVC pipe with rocket fuel and black powder before the explosion. After lighting the fuse, the pipe exploded while his son was holding the pipe in one hand.

The father said that he and his son had launched similar rockets without incident, but they had "juiced" the mixture in the pipe Tuesday night in order to get the rocket to go higher, Police Lt. Diedrich Hohn said. The boy was kept at the hospital overnight for observation, Hohn said.

The bomb squad was sent to their home at 7 Hyde St. to secure the rocket fuel and make sure the property was safe. No charges have been filed against the father, who was cooperative with police, and the investigation is continuing, Hohn said. The state Department of Children and Families was notified about the incident.

Hohn said the rocket fuel, which is potassium nitrate, is mixed with black powder to provide the explosion to launch the rocket. The substances are legally available on the Internet and at hobby shops, Hohn said.